Heart-leaf twayblade(Listera
cordata) in flower (probably not the first day).
Mosquitos are intense in many places (insect repellent or headnet
are
required), Nicolet National Forest - Northern Oconto County, (Steve
Janke).

May 26

It has been dry in
the Green Bay area and the soil is becoming hard and is beginning
to crack in a some places. We have had only 0.15 inches of rain
in the last 15 days. This is a critical growth period for many plants
that requires regular precipitation, and cannot be compensated by
more rain later. Averages and totals are less relevant to the plants
than regular availability (it is true for animals too--you can't
compensate for 2 weeks without water by drinking 14 times as much
on the 15th day).

Spring-cress (Cardamine bulbosa),
in flower, UWGB (Gary Fewless).

Yesterday was about the end of the peak flowering
season for Dandelions. Lesser numbers of flowers will occur
throughout the summer and even well into the Fall, City of Green
Bay (Gary Fewless).

White spruce
(Picea glauca) in flower (anthesis). Also in flower, and
appearing to have been in flower for several days previously: American
golden saxifrage (Chrysosplenium americanum) and brome-like
sedge (Carex bromoides), Brown County (Gary Fewless).

My first mosquito bite of the year, Brown
County (Gary Fewless). There are very few mosquitos so far, but
the time is near when they will become numerous.

This is about the time of what I call "general
greening of the trees" in the Green Bay area. Before this
weekend the trees were beginning to develop leaves, but the forests
were mostly open and you could see through them easily. Now
the forests are becoming conspicuously green and more difficult
to see through. This is a very imprecise phenology item,
but for what it's worth the average (by my estimation) has been
May 7 over the last 18 years (Gary Fewelss). Another vague
phenology item of this period is the peak of dandelion
floweringTaraxacum officinale).

A significant movement of migrants today, with the
arrival of our first Gray catbird, Brown Thrasher,
Indigo Bunting, Great Crested Flycatcher, Least
Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, and many species of warblers,
Town of Cooperstown, Manitowoc County (Joel Trick).

First calling Gray Treefrogs, Town of Cooperstown,
Manitowoc County (Joel Trick).

Golden currant (Ribes
odoratum) first open flowers, UWGB. This is basically a horticultural
species in this area, rarely if ever found outside of cultivation,
though it may persist for years on abandoned home sites. Also first
flowering for Yellow trout-lily (Erythronium americanum),
two-leaved toothwort (Dentaria diphylla), common
blue violet (Viola sororia), long-beaked sedge
(Carex sprengellii), wild gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati)
and Canada wild plum (Prunus nigra), UWGB (Gary Fewless).
Also the horticultural species Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata)
is in anthesis, UWGB (Gary Fewless).

Today we had our first Ruby-throated Hummingbird
taking nectar at our feeder, Town of Cooperstown, Manitowoc Co.
(Joel Trick).

Heard my first of the year Black-throated Green
Warblers singing today, Manitowoc County near Lake Michigan,
Town of Centerville (Jon Reisenbuechler).

May 07

Found my first Red-backed
Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) of
the year, although they have probably been active for a few weeks
now,
west-central Marinette Co, WI (Steve Price).

May 06

Wild strawberry
(Fragaria virginiana) in flower, UWGB (Gary Fewless).

Northern oriole arrived
today, has been using our nectar feeder. Also new are Sedge Wrens
and Tennessee Warblers, Manitowoc County near Lake Michigan,
Town of Centerville (Jon Reisenbuechler).

First Wood anemone
(Anemone quinquefolia), Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium
americanum) and the first violet I have been able to
confirm is Dog violet (Viola conspersa). Also first
Red Admiral
butterfly and Cabbage butterfly. Baird Creek Parkway,
City of Green Bay (Gary Fewless)

A few horticultural trees
of Norway maple (Acer platanoides) in flower, City
of Green Bay (Gary Fewless).

First flower (anthesis) for paper birch (Betula
papyrifera); first open flowers of Spring Beauty (Claytonia
virginica) for UWGB (Gary Fewless). Spring beauty flowered 10
days later than the 18 year average.

Several tree species are leafing out far enough
to give a slight green caste to some woods. Box elder (Acer
negundo) is the most conspicuous in this regard, but others
include crack willow (Salix fragilis) and some quaking aspen
(Populus tremuloides), plus the shrubs Bell's honeysuckle
(Lonicera xbella) and American wild currant (Ribes americana),
(Gary Fewless).

I have a couple of reports of blue violets
in flower without positive identification. Usually, the first two
blue violets to flower are dog violet (Viola conspersa)
and wood violet (V. sororia), in that order, but I
can't be sure without seeing the plants.